Agree. I despise people who use the excuse of “charity” to shame other people about their spending habits.
-
In Collaboration with Ralph Lauren
We take a look at the bright and beautiful refresh of the Polo ID Collection on PurseBlog. Come take a look and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
How did you afford your Cartier Love pieces?
- Thread starter yayaisnan
- Start date
Last year I got a new job with a 50% pay increase. Before this job I was living paycheck to paycheck and scrimped and saved. There was no way I could have afforded a Cartier bracelet. I am currently saving up to buy a Cartier bracelet now because by this time next year, my focus will be on returning to school and also eventually purchasing a new car. With those upcoming expenses I will not be able to purchase anything pricey like a bracelet so I am buying one now. That is my reasoning behind splurging on a large Cartier purchase now, because otherwise I won’t be able to for at least a couple of years!
Meh, it depends on the individual.
Some need to be shamed.
Totally agree. And one doesn't necessarily know someones story as to how they acquired their wealth, or at least means to purchase nice things. We worked extremely hard, paid for our school 100% on our own, had so many setbacks in life, but just kept pushing and working. We are now at a point where we can comfortably afford luxuries. No one knows what we do behind the scenes when it comes to charity, etc. And they don't need to know because we keep that private. Nothing irks me more than judging for what people do with their hard earned money!
I bought all of my Cartier over time. I first bought a mother-of-pearl tank francaise 17 years ago, then my first love at least 10 years ago, Ballon Bleu 7 years ago, 2nd love 6 years ago, my love necklace 5 years ago, and large size JUC w diamonds and small 10 diamond love in the last two years. Other than the small love, all of these pieces are worth it, and I wear them constantly.
2017 I acquired my first one and for so many years I’ve always wanted to be able to own one, the prices back then was cheaper. So happy and in love with it that I set a goal to stack but another piece from the boutique would be a longer route to go and it’ll be much expensive if I waited so I opened my options into preowned and consignments stores, just timing and luck and proudly to say that majority of mine are through consignments and preowned pieces but I still love them
Yes and you can keep a separate savings account for splurges!
I budget each month and after paying all bills and my recurring charity donations I have a general savings account, a retirement account, a savings account for each kid and a “bling fund”. It’s a lot of different accounts but I put a percentage in each and never feel bad spending out of the fun money account! Because it’s a small percentage of my overall finances I can usually purchase 1-2 items a year, but since these are quality items that’s actually really good!
Preowned items in good shape are a great way to go, IMO!
My pieces are also all pre-owned, and down to luck and timing. I'm a student so Cartier isn't really a priority so I thought it would be a few years before I owned any. However, I recently managed to get a love wedding band and small trinity ring pre owned for a 1/3 of their current retail cost, plus a trinity cord for 1/2 the retail price, they just needed a good polish.
A splurge but I hate missing out on a good deal lol, and I had to scratch the Cartier itch. I'm happy to have finally started my (very humble) Cartier collection.
Wow!! 1/3 of the retail price? That's insane and amazing!!! Congrats!
If you don't mind my asking, I'm guessing it's not one of the common pre-loved luxury shops (Fashionphile, Rebag etc...) - it is some of those Japan-based Ebay resellers?
If you don't mind my asking, I'm guessing it's not one of the common pre-loved luxury shops (Fashionphile, Rebag etc...) - it is some of those Japan-based Ebay resellers?
For me, I've always (unfortunately) love luxury goods so I always save a bit to splurge 1-2 times a year.
I eventually got a trinity cord bracelet my soph year from a japanese ebay seller (is 100% authentic) and the Tank Francaise ring my senior year from Fashionphile. Most of that was funded by money I've saved over time with summer jobs/ internships & campus jobs (plus occasionally bday & holiday gift from parents)
In the past year, since I've been working full-time since graduating college in 2021, I found myself not wanting to buy any clothes (aside for essentials like socks and underwear & perhaps a few shirts/ sweaters/ pants) or going out to restaurants (even takeout/ delivery - recently moved next to a Trader Joe's).
Back in college, I definitely did not have the spare cash to buy a Cartier ring that is more than $1000 so a lot of my expenses were tiny things like shopping the sales for clothes but realizing I had the same type of sweater or buying cheaper jewelry (either 14k vermeil or 14k pure) from places like mejuri and aurate and vrai and automic around 2019-2020.
But at the end of it, I never liked my mejuri and aurate and vrai and automic pieces because they were not Cartier.
I just did the calculations today - in total 3 Aurate necklaces (14k white gold, vermeil, 22 inches) add up to nearly $550 before tax. I have no clue how much the Trinity Cord bracelet costed in 2019-2020 but I wish I had not bought all those mejuri and aurate and vrai and automic jewelry that I never wore and had saved gradually to buy the Cord that I still wear 24/7 everyday.
I sold the 3 Aurate necklaces for $230 on poshmark representing nearly a 60% drop in value for something I've never worn except when I first received them. Yes, I know jewelry is notorious for keeping its value but still have some regrets.
I eventually sold all those mejuri and vrai and automic pieces on Poshmark. With that, I was able to save up and have essentially a very small capsule collection of rings, bracelets, and one necklace to wear for any occasion (mostly only Cartier, some small/ local NYC jewelers, some Etsy too).
I eventually got a trinity cord bracelet my soph year from a japanese ebay seller (is 100% authentic) and the Tank Francaise ring my senior year from Fashionphile. Most of that was funded by money I've saved over time with summer jobs/ internships & campus jobs (plus occasionally bday & holiday gift from parents)
In the past year, since I've been working full-time since graduating college in 2021, I found myself not wanting to buy any clothes (aside for essentials like socks and underwear & perhaps a few shirts/ sweaters/ pants) or going out to restaurants (even takeout/ delivery - recently moved next to a Trader Joe's).
Back in college, I definitely did not have the spare cash to buy a Cartier ring that is more than $1000 so a lot of my expenses were tiny things like shopping the sales for clothes but realizing I had the same type of sweater or buying cheaper jewelry (either 14k vermeil or 14k pure) from places like mejuri and aurate and vrai and automic around 2019-2020.
But at the end of it, I never liked my mejuri and aurate and vrai and automic pieces because they were not Cartier.
I just did the calculations today - in total 3 Aurate necklaces (14k white gold, vermeil, 22 inches) add up to nearly $550 before tax. I have no clue how much the Trinity Cord bracelet costed in 2019-2020 but I wish I had not bought all those mejuri and aurate and vrai and automic jewelry that I never wore and had saved gradually to buy the Cord that I still wear 24/7 everyday.
I sold the 3 Aurate necklaces for $230 on poshmark representing nearly a 60% drop in value for something I've never worn except when I first received them. Yes, I know jewelry is notorious for keeping its value but still have some regrets.
I eventually sold all those mejuri and vrai and automic pieces on Poshmark. With that, I was able to save up and have essentially a very small capsule collection of rings, bracelets, and one necklace to wear for any occasion (mostly only Cartier, some small/ local NYC jewelers, some Etsy too).
It was eBay and it was luck! Private seller (not Japanese though) and she mis spelt ‘Cartier’ in the title so the love ring didn’t come up as Cartier when searching, but had Cartier in the description as normal. I found it looking for 18 karat non branded rings, and was even able to haggle it down from the beginning auction price because no one else bid.
The other one was also luck. The trinity was vintage that the eBay pawn shop had come in with other 60s/70s Cartier pieces, all from the same person. The other pieces were definitely authentic and even came with the vintage Cartier boxes (cute to see, but the modern boxes are really something else).
Anyway, the seller said he didn’t want to sell the trinity ring as Cartier as he didn’t have papers for it. So he sold it as a generic ring in auction and I was able to get it. Considering the weight in gold of the trinity ring it is an amazing buy Cartier or not, but logic says it’s Cartier. Again only found it by browsing for generic 18 karat gold.
Last edited: